California’s Latest FAIR Plan Rate Hike Puts More Pressure on Homeowners as Voters Demand Accountability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2026
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
California’s Latest FAIR Plan Rate Hike Puts More Pressure on Homeowners as Voters Demand Accountability
Today, California homeowners are being hit with another steep insurance rate hike while affordability worsens and scrutiny grows over how insurers are treating policyholders. The latest increase underscores the urgent need to hold insurers accountable and address the corporate drivers of the state’s insurance crisis.
The California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, has raised policyholder rates by an average of 29.1%, its largest rate hike in recent history. For Californians already struggling to afford coverage, the increase means less money for groceries and other essentials.
“Californians are being forced to pay more for coverage while the industries driving this crisis continue to dodge accountability. This rate hike puts even more pressure on families, homeowners, and businesses who are already struggling to make ends meet,” said TJ Helmstetter, a spokesperson for the Insurance Fairness Project. “Our elected leaders and regulators should hold insurers and polluters accountable and stop them from shifting the costs onto everyday people. Our recent polling showed as high as 80% support for policy mechanisms to make this happen.”
“The FAIR Plan was never meant to be a permanent solution for families like mine,” said Nicholas Hernandez, former Wildland Firefighter, San Fernando Valley resident, and now an organizer with Extreme Weather Survivors. “After living through multiple major fires and then being dropped by our insurer because of smoke damage, we were forced onto a plan that costs more and covers less. This recent increase feels like we’re being punished for surviving these disasters, paying all of the costs, while the corporations making fires more frequent pay nothing.”
‘My family was forced onto the FAIR Plan after private insurance companies pulled out of our community. These double-digit rate hikes keep getting approved with no end in sight,” said Patti Vaitaitis, a California resident. “They are dumping all the costs of the rise of extreme weather on people, and more cruelly on survivors like us who have already lost so much. The FAIR Plan increase going into effect today is huge and will add up to a significant cost for my family. It’s not fair we’re the ones paying all of the costs for disasters we did not create.”
The FAIR Plan’s rate hike comes as its treatment of wildfire survivors faces increased scrutiny. Los Angeles County recently launched an investigation into the FAIR Plan for alleged misconduct in the handling of wildfire claims, with policyholders citing unlawful claim delays, underpayments, and denials, along with refusals to pay for testing and remediation of toxic contamination.
Recent polling from the Insurance Fairness Project and Data for Progress shows that voters are growing more concerned about keeping up with rising insurance costs and want corporations contributing to the affordability crisis held accountable. Nearly half of California voters (49%) say they are paying more for home or renters insurance than they did last year, and 57% across party lines view insurance companies unfavorably.
California voters are also demanding action to make fossil fuel companies pay their fair share of climate-related costs. 71% support allowing people and insurers harmed by climate disasters to recover losses from oil and gas companies, while 73% oppose legal immunity that would shield those companies from accountability for climate disaster damages. 81% support individuals’ right to file lawsuits against insurance companies if they deny, delay, or underpay home insurance claims. 81% support individuals’ right to file lawsuits against insurance companies if they cancel coverage or raise the price without warning policyholders.
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The Insurance Fairness Project works to raise awareness of the nation’s climate-driven property insurance crisis. We bring together consumer advocates, homeowners, disaster survivors, and policy experts to increase understanding of the crisis and its causes, and we work to advance possible solutions through research, media engagement, and public education.
